Clinical trials

Endgame enema

I’ve been in financial markets for over 35 years and I’ve always believed that there must be a better way than what I have observed of the standard practice at an institutional level, but I kept it to myself. I just became a student of markets, an observer, and one who continually learns. Besides, corporates keep you so busy doing corporate stuff that there is no time for looking to add value.

8 years ago, I chose to permanently separate myself from the institutional world at the time that an institution decided to cut my role. I found the corporate world to be a toxic environment. So, instead of looking to get back in, I stayed home and dedicated myself to finding the better way.

During the intervening years, I developed multiple systematic investment processes that produced enhanced long-term results with better risk metrics. These were built upon certain key insights that I had garnered in my years of observation. However, these strategies were merely back-tested, even though I did allow generous amounts for slippage (i.e. transaction costs & bid/ask spreads, or less than ideal execution etc.).

I am convinced that what I developed was the real deal. But then Covid-19 hit and all things economic got turned on their head, which I’ve previously called “the 5-year glitch”. So, there I was all ready, set and about to go in 2019 (or so I thought) only to be sidelined for half a decade. That’s the problem when you deal with the big picture, it can take time for situations to rectify.

In the intervening 5 years, I’ve been refining my process and adding layers to the underlying systematic approach, which allows for some discretionary interaction and a more dynamic approach overall. It’s now a more sophisticated approach that shows greater promise and is ready for clinical trials … because I’ve found that no one believes you or is interested enough to investigate theoretical research (even when it’s summarized and presented in pictures). They want proof, as in, “Show me the money!"

Gloves off

Now here we are in 2025, and I’ve mentioned a couple of times that my focus is changing. I’ve always been somewhat intuitive in my approach to the world, especially for the big decisions like life direction, and this time is no different. The change in focus that I mentioned was an internal perception, which I now realize is a need to enter the proof of concept phase and assess real-world viability.